To measure time, quietly.
— Frank Otto, Berlin, 1897
The Nocturne is our evening watch — 38.5mm, onyx-treated steel, a dial polished to the black of a Berlin sky between concerts. Eight gold points mark the eight cardinal stars of a constellation, and a slim second hand crosses them, once every minute.
Beneath a domed sapphire crystal, the Kaliber FO-1n runs at 3 Hz through blued steel escapement. The onyx dial is polished by hand for nineteen hours. Applied gold spheres — turned on a lathe, then flame-annealed — sit at each cardinal star.
— Frank Otto, Berlin, 1897